D&D 5E Races in my Own Campaign World

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Istbor]

Well, pretty much everything here at the Pathfinder SRD is an example of rules that are not there. Everything which calculates the CR effect from Race Points (RP) so that the DM can attempt to maintain game balance. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemasterin...ting-new-races

All I see in the DMG and PHB are nebulous descriptive non-functionary words. There is nothing solid with which to work. If I want to go touchy feel-ly and have no foundation for the story I am telling, no die rolls, just make it up and let the players think I am using rules - well then there is no reason to attempt to use the game. I could skip having any books or even dice and do that. I have read the books and there are no rules with which to work. I don't have a problem doing creative writing. What I need are rules to actually use in representing what I write.

You mean rules for creating races specifically then. Can't help you there. I would point you to the suggest made to find the article where someone turned race creation into a math equation. That is the closest thing to what you are hoping for. I don't see why someone would want to restrict themselves in such a way, but I am only me. I can only understand what goes on in my mind (some of the time).

 

[Sunseeker]

Personally, I usually just wing it. The race building "guide" in 5E I find of little help.

I'll try my hand at Lizardfolk to give you an example.
Lizardfolk, Medium, CN
+2 Con
Warrior Caste get +1 Str, Sage Caste get +1 Wis
Speed: 25; Swim: 25
*Special: if a Lizardfolk has free hands, they can dash as a bonus action.
Amphibious: Lizardfolk can breathe in water as well as air.
Darkvision 60
Multiattack: As an Action, a Lizardfolk may attack with their Bite 1d6+str and two Claws (if their hands are free) 1d4+str.
*A Lizardfolk has a Bite for 1d6+str and 2 Claws for 1d4+str and may use these in place of any single melee attack during an Attack Action.
Natural Wrestler: A Lizardfolk has advantage on all attempts to make or resist a grapple. *5E does not have CMB/CMD and +X to dice rolls are generally avoided.

Don't know if that's what you're going for, but that's going to look a lot more like how 5E races look than your very 3.X looking version in the OP.

 

[TwoSix]

All I see in the DMG and PHB are nebulous descriptive non-functionary words. There is nothing solid with which to work. If I want to go touchy feel-ly and have no foundation for the story I am telling, no die rolls, just make it up and let the players think I am using rules - well then there is no reason to attempt to use the game. I could skip having any books or even dice and do that. I have read the books and there are no rules with which to work. I don't have a problem doing creative writing. What I need are rules to actually use in representing what I write.

If you want to use the 5e rules for doing your own homebrew, then yes, you must be willing to let the players know that the rules you've built are based on nothing more than your own judgement. Considering they're willing to let you DM, where you make judgement calls all the time, that's probably OK.

 

[Shiroiken]

I have read the DMG and PHB in 5E. I have been looking online for days. Two things, which are somewhat related, have me baffled. The first is Feats - which I can't really get a grip on at all. There is nothing in the charts, instructions, etc. that definitely states how many feats a character gets during advancement. In Pathfinder 3.5, which is what I am used to using for the last few years, the chart on character advancement states when one gets feats. In 5E, if I understand it correctly, one has to give up ability point advancement for a feat - and then hope the best feat to get gives back the ability point one would advance. So, in Pathfinder, if I want to create a race there are specified feats and specified abilities according to the CR of what you are creating in order to maintain balanced play. I can't figure that out, find the right source, or there is nothing definitive enough for 5E. Below is my first attempt at a player character race. I used Pathfinder 3.5 and then attempted to convert it. I would like to find something for 5E. (Not including the full write up on this race in case I have a player reading here.)

The only way to get a Feat (besides from the Variant Human) is from a Class Feature (i.e. Ability Score Improvement). If you want your homebrew race to gain a Feat, you simply give them the ability to gain that feat (or you just give them the ability you want them to have). You can also create racial feats, which are simply feats that can only be taken by characters of that race. If you're creating them as a monster (rather than a playable race, which most here seem to believe), you can just give them whatever ability you want, so long as you adjust the CR accordingly.

 

[Whithers]

You mean rules for creating races specifically then. Can't help you there. I would point you to the suggest made to find the article where someone turned race creation into a math equation. That is the closest thing to what you are hoping for. I don't see why someone would want to restrict themselves in such a way, but I am only me. I can only understand what goes on in my mind (some of the time).

I sort of see that as trying to be a Supreme Court Justice without a Constitution from which to make legal decisions. When I was putting my library in Library of Congress order and got to my RPG books, they had nothing, no reference no. When I called them to ask where these books would go, they told me to just make up a number. That is not systemic. One doesn't just make up numbers at random and toss them on the system. That has no consistency of value. My RPG books to this day are not properly categorized because of this.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Well, pretty much everything here at the Pathfinder SRD is an example of rules that are not there. Everything which calculates the CR effect from Race Points (RP) so that the DM can attempt to maintain game balance. http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemasterin...ting-new-races

As you may know, Pathfinder is based on 3E D&D, and lifted the core races and their features more or less straight from the older game. 3E D&D did not have the sort of rules you're looking for either. The races were written in exactly the way you are complaining about: with an intuitive understanding of game balance but no hard mathematical formula. The formula in Pathfinder was invented retroactively from these races by people who didn't even originally write them, just like the formula for 5E races that @lowkey13 linked for you.

Furthermore -- and this is important -- these formulas are not rules. Even in games like Pathfinder where they do officially exist in print, they are entities of a completely different nature than the game rules that tell you how to resolve actions and events with consistency. They are guidelines for helping DMs who may not know what to do, like the encounter difficulty math, or the treasure tables. As a DM, you are no more obligated to follow them than you are obligated to roll on the "Individual Treasure: Challenge 0-4" table every time your players kill an orc.

All I see in the DMG and PHB are nebulous descriptive non-functionary words. There is nothing solid with which to work. If I want to go touchy feel-ly and have no foundation for the story I am telling, no die rolls, just make it up and let the players think I am using rules - well then there is no reason to attempt to use the game. I could skip having any books or even dice and do that. I have read the books and there are no rules with which to work. I don't have a problem doing creative writing. What I need are rules to actually use in representing what I write.

Here are some "rules" to represent what you write:

• If your race is stronger than average, give them a Strength bonus.
• If your race is more nimble than average, give them a Dexterity bonus.
• If your race is tougher than average, give them a Constitution bonus.
• If your race is smarter than average, give them an Intelligence bonus.
• If your race is more perceptive than average, give them a Wisdom bonus.
• If your race is more charismatic than average, give them a Charisma bonus.
• If your race is faster than average, give them a higher land speed.
• If your race is aquatic, give them a swim speed.
• If your race is arboreal, give them a climb speed.
• If your race can see in the dark, give them darkvision.
• If your race is good at some skill, give them proficiency in that skill.
• If your race is inherently magical, give them a spell.
• If your race can do something else special, give them that special ability.

I could go on, but I hope you've gotten my point: in a game as straightforward as D&D, representing what you write is really easy.

 

[Whithers]

The only way to get a Feat (besides from the Variant Human) is from a Class Feature (i.e. Ability Score Improvement). If you want your homebrew race to gain a Feat, you simply give them the ability to gain that feat (or you just give them the ability you want them to have). You can also create racial feats, which are simply feats that can only be taken by characters of that race. If you're creating them as a monster (rather than a playable race, which most here seem to believe), you can just give them whatever ability you want, so long as you adjust the CR accordingly.

Since they have nothing indicating how to adjust that CR that isn't possible.

As to being DM, Authority is granted power because it can be trusted to give power away. In gaming, give away to much power and there is nothing to challenge the player. Give away too little and the agenda of the player for the character becomes balked. That is why rules that provide actual direction and define balance for the referee make the DM's job functional.

Consider the general damage description divided between setback, standard, and deadly and qualified by level. That is a good system so that the DM can do research on how they want to describe the party moving through a blizzard or around a venting volcano without killing them - and still require the DM to learn the subject area enough to do something with the numbers. But the numbers are provided to show what is appropriate. In race creation there are no numbers, there are no charts defining what makes what CR. That is the problem I am having converting my world.

 

[pukunui]

In race creation there are no numbers, there are no charts defining what makes what CR. That is the problem I am having converting my world.

In 5e, CR is primarily a function of combat ability. Only a creature's offensive and defensive abilities affect its CR. See the DMG, pp 273-283. There are even some charts. Of course, these are just for creating monsters and NPCs. Player character races (and player characters) don't have CRs.

 

[Whithers]

Found it!

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...mp-D-5e-race-design-and-over-40-example-races

That's a homebrew attempt to do the math behind the races. So maybe that will make more sense to you.

Then there's this-

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?543339-Unearthed-Arcana-Feats-for-Races

A thread on racial feats, with a link to the UA article.

Again, good luck! But IMO, it helps to walk before you run. Try and grok 5e a little better before you go through the process of conversions.

Thank you for the Link. I will look this over.